The 680MHz ARM 11 processor does a good job of making everything run smoothly (except for web-browsing), and the Nokia C6-01 is at the top of the game in areas like video playback (due to great codec support). With 8GB of on-board memory and expandable memory up to another 32GB via microSD expansion, the Nokia C6-01 has considerable media potential, however, the screen's a bit small to get you truly immersed in a video and makes the whole OS feel laboured.

Voice calling is clear and crisp. When receiving a call on the Nokia C6-01, volume and audibility are good, even in busy environments. Clarity is also above average. The person on the other end also found our voice clear and loud enough.

Battery life on the Nokia C6-01 is good. The quoted talk time is 12 hours while the standby time is 17 days, it wins out amongst the Symbian^3 phones currently out. Practically, we found we could get two days of semi intensive use out of it. The Nokia C6-01 also defaults to a power saving mode when the battery is low, offering easy ways to extend the life if need be.

Conclusion:

As much as performance is on paper good, after a week of using the Nokia C6-01 we couldn't get 'into' it, like we could with the Nokia C7 and N8. The experience is generally hampered by the unpretentious screen size, the phone is too thick, looking like a numeric pad should slide out of the bottom and the weighting is pretty off. On the plus, it does offer a huge array of connectivity options, fantastic video codec support, as well as a vibrant and deep image quality, thanks to the AMOLED and CBD technologies. While the Nokia C6-01 might be an ideal compact phone if you have very small hands and want a versatile handset without a large screen at a good price, it didn't become one of our favourites. Decent alternatives for you might include the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy 3, the HTC Wildfire or indeed, if you can afford the step up, the Nokia C7 for a considerably superior Symbian^3 experience.

41 Comments

Display mode:

If the reviewer thinks a 3.2 inch screen is too small, that's OK. But at least understand that some companies tailor product portfolios to those who prefer a smaller, one handed device. IMO, the thicker device actually feels very ergonomic under single-handed operation.

The reviewer should also understand the performance of the browser has little to do with the hardware and everything to do with outdated code. This is why the phone will get a completely NEW browser based on Qt webkit in about one month. In the mean-time, he should at least mention the performance difference using Opera Mobile 10 and Opera Mini.

The scoring seems a bit harsh if the main problem was the small screen. I would think this is about the best device in this price range.

The S^3 T9 keyboard is bit misunderstood I think. There is no way you could use a portrait qwerty on a phone like this and even on it N8 will probably be cramped and hard to use. That is because the screen aspect ratio is a more standard 16:9, which is more narrow than on other phones. From my view Nokia really screwed up the default settings on the T9. If you set predictive, error correction and suggestion options correctly, you can type really fast. This is most likely the ideal input method on C6-01 too. Too bad most users won't find the settings :(

I would also to add the CBD to the plus side. Now that even the new wave doesn't have super amoled, that is pretty good benefit against competition.

@Stoli89: We agree, Opera does provide an improvement and this is in the written review. We have to go on the grounds of the device we have in our hands, and web just wasn't up to scratch when compared to other phones, we look forward to the update.

@JlJ: Sound through the 3.5mm headphone jack was pretty good, not as round as some handsets out there (Desire HD), but good nonetheless.

@lawrence: We assure you, the reason it got this is because input was so difficult and inaccurate when compared with other handsets, it's markedly worse as an overall experience then the C7.

@PhoneArena Team: i shall be glad if you confirm your views about the loudspeaker quality and the quality of the nokia CBD......i ahve read that it is almost as good as the Super AMOLEDs of samsung.....it is so???....and also a word about the divx and xvid playing capability of this phone.....is it good than S8500 in video playback, recording or the display????.....i currently have wave s8500 and was thinking to swap it for the c6-01.....please reply!!!!!

29.diogorva (unregistered)

Nokia CBD is just as good as Super AMOLED, at least that's what GSMArena tests proved. Also, C6-01 got plenty of codec support for the video playback, and the video-recording got smart digital zoom, that let's you do 2x zoom without stretching the video.

28.diogorva (unregistered)

What do you mean by "not as round as some handsets out there (Desire HD)"? You are saying that Desire HD got better sound-quality? Are you kidding right? Take a look at the GSMArena review, they do technical analizying about sound quality and they proved that Desire HD got terrible sound quality through headphones and the C6-01 audio quality is extremely good just like almost every Nokia phone.
About the user-experience, PhoneArena is the only one that complain about the "overall experience", I think that this phone is simply too small for your hands, but I rather this than a phone like HTC Desire HD that you can't even put properly on the pocket or use with one hand.
In the end, you recommend phones with smaller screens and much worse functionality (also, the X10 mini is even thicker), that makes me think that the review is so biased. This phone deserved alot more.

12.modibimal (unregistered)

14.Anup (unregistered)

In this price mark, it has got everything one need. A decent quality 8 MP camera, HD video recording, and playback, dvix and xvid support, and everything else one can demand in a Phone of this price tag. And I don't know how much 0.3" will make difference. This is much compact phone. You don't like this doesn't mean others won't like it. Its going to rock the market.
Can you tell me one phone coming in this pricetag having better(or same) screen resolution, technology, colour depth. and having xvid support, GPU, BT 3.0, 3.5G, wifi, usb on the go, fm and metal finish body.
Only con I can find here is earphone and missing BT HID profile. both of which can be upgraded without much effort.(Just buy wh-701 and upgrade to symbian 4).

15.rusai021 (unregistered)

Here is the reply which i get from Nokia India..
show details Jan 4 (5 days ago)
Hello Sudarshan,

Thank you for contacting Nokia CareLine.

I understand that you want to know the launching date of Nokia device C6-01 in India.I know that how important it is for you to get this information immediately and the rest assured I am here to provide you to necessary assistance.

We are glad to inform you that expected launching date of Nokia device C6-01 will be in Second week of January 2011.Right now we are unable to provide you the exact date of relies of availability or information of this phone.All current and upcomind models that nokia plan to release in India are posted on our website i.e.www.nokia.co.in However, we have taken as a valuable feedback and we have forwarded the same to the consumer feedback division for thier due consideration. Any update in this regard will be posted on our website.
(website removed)

18.xBoi (unregistered)

Honestly, i thought that the reviewer was being unfair in the review. Just raging about how small the screen is.
Well, I went and tried using the Nokia C6-01. I walked away frustrated. I honestly cannot type anything on it. I end up using the portrait T9 Keypad to type.
The QWERTY is honestly one of the WORST ones around. It was okay on a resistive screen as i could easily hit the tiny buttons with my nails or something. Here, I'm jabbing at the screen with my fingers. And my hands are pretty small. Smaller than the reviewers by about an inch. And I STILL can't type anything.
I know im ranting rite now. But I'm okay with this screen size, but Nokia needs to make a better keyboard for this phone in a software update.

30.diogorva (unregistered)

You only need some time to get used to it.
I tried N8 on the store and I couldn't type anything, now I got the C6-01 with even smaller screen and I can type really fast already. So you only need some time to get used to it.

19.MR DEAN (unregistered)

Sorry but the issue regarding of the QWERT virtual keypad is hard to used is NOT TRUE. There's a new application of SWYPE for the phone. Find it in the Nokia's Beta Lab new application. It also support many languages. Dear reviewers and commentors, have a positive mind and please give a positive + alternative rather than downgraded this little angel.

24.diogorva (unregistered)

I have to disagree with both "cons" that the reviews have mentioned.
About the thickness: with a phone of this size, I guess if it were slimmer, it wouldn't be so confortable to handle it, take the X10 mini por example, it's even smaller and even thicker.
About the text entry: the phone is clearly aimed for young teenagers, not for mans with giant hands, if that's your case, there's the E7 for you. So the text entry might not be unconfortable for some people (while a giant phone that you can't operate with one single hand may be).

As mobidimal said
"Reviewer said 8GB on board memory, thats not correct. It has only 2GB memory card comes with it."

The reviewer has no idea about the specs of this phone and yet he has managed to put together a negative review.

People, this is a very good multimedia smartphone. I agree entering text is a bit clumsy due to the size of the onboard qwerty keypad but everyone will get used to it after a few days using it. holding it is heaven. it fits compactly in your hand and one hand operation is breezy.

Upgrade the firmwire to version 014.002 as soon as you buy it. It definitely makes using it more user friendly.

26.nick (unregistered)

I have two questions which this review does not clarify:

1. Does this model (the C6-01) have a trackpad? If not then it is pretty useless for gaming and editing texts, etc.

2. Pictures I have seen of the qwerty keyboard suggest that it has the $ symbol instead of the £ one. I hope this is not true in the UK. What the hell would we want the $ symbol for??? They may as well give the symbol for the currency in Timbuctu. Can UK users please clarify. Thanks.

27.The Wolf (unregistered)

I actually own one of these and find it quite nice to use. Camera works better than you'd expect from a phone, loudspeaker isn't as tinny as other phones and as far as screen size and keyboard goes, yes i admit the qwerty can be annoying, however, if you go into settings>phone>touch input and turn OFF "adaptive search" it seems to work faster and more accurately. For me anyway and i have long skinny fingers. I bought this phone over others beacause I didn't want a 3.5" slab in my pockets. I much rather the thicker phone. For long fingers it doesn't feel like you're going to drop it all the time, unlike my ipod touch.
I guess each is entitled to their own opinion.

31.bishnoi (unregistered)

33.The Wolf (unregistered)

Excellent.. the C6-01 has a speaker in the back plate that is quick loud and very clear for music and ringtones and speakerphone... compared to an iphone much much louder and clearer.. my friends and i tested this..

32.chaitanya karanam (unregistered)

i'm in a bit of dilemma considering the buying of Galaxy Ace or Nokia C6-01.While I find Galaxy excellent with its android,build, it lacks the camera that C6-01 has. While C6-01 has a good camera it doesn't have the software X factor.So could you just suggest me taking into all the factors, the best phone between C6-01 and the Galaxy Ace.

34.sunny kumar (unregistered)

35.Manchester United 99 (unregistered)

Really this reviewer sucks big time....He is so dumb to give a rating of 6....I feel that this mobile is far better than c7....And voice clarity , S^3 interface and also in-built graphic accelerator to play HD games like NFS Shift , Hawx, Avatar makes it to the top notch...

All content (phone reviews, news, specs, info), design and layouts are Copyright 2001-2015 phoneArena.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part or in any form or medium without written permission is prohibited! Privacy . Terms of use . Cookies . Team